The Great Giclée Misconception

Let's get the big one out of the way. You see the word ‘giclée’ thrown around a lot. It sounds fancy, but in simple terms, it's a high-quality inkjet print. A machine sprays microscopic dots of ink onto paper to replicate a digital file or a photograph of an existing artwork. The quality can be fantastic, don't get me wrong. But it is fundamentally a *reproduction*. A copy.

The artist's direct involvement ends once the file is sent to the printer. The machine does the rest. It’s a brilliant technology for creating copies of a painting or a digital design, but the final object itself lacks the artist's touch. It's a ghost in the machine.

Enter the 'Original Multiple'

Screen printing exists in a completely different universe. This is where we get into a concept the art world calls the ‘original multiple’. It sounds like a contradiction, but it’s the heart and soul of printmaking.

When I create an edition of, say, 50 prints, I'm not printing 49 copies of the first one. I'm creating 50 individual, original pieces of art that all come from the same family. Each layer of colour is pulled by hand, with a squeegee, through a screen. For every single print in the edition. The artist’s hand is the machine.

A slight variation in pressure on the squeegee might make the ink deposit a fraction thicker. The way the ink floods the screen can create a subtle texture that's unique to that pull. Each print has its own tiny story, its own DNA. It's not a reproduction of another artwork; the print *is* the artwork. The whole edition, together, is the complete work.

Scarcity, Skill, and Why You Should Care

This is why screen prints are signed and numbered. That little fraction, maybe ‘17/50’, isn’t just a stock number. It’s a guarantee. It tells you this is the 17th piece in a finite edition of 50. There will never be a 51st. That scarcity is fundamental to its value as a piece of art. It's the opposite of a poster that can be reprinted into infinity.

What you're investing in isn't just paper and some very nice ink. You're investing in the hours of physical work, the skill honed over years to mix those colours perfectly, the knowledge to align each layer so it registers just right. It's the artist’s time, expertise, and intent, layered directly onto the paper. That's what separates a piece from Oli Fowler Art from a mass-market wall decoration. One is a product; the other is a piece of a person's craft.

So when you buy a limited edition screen print, you're not just buying a picture for your wall. You’re becoming a collector. You're acquiring an original work that shares a lineage with a few dozen others, each one handmade and authenticated by the artist. It's a way of owning a genuine piece of art without having to remortgage the house.

Have a look for yourself. You'll see the difference in the depth of colour and the crispness of the lines. See the real thing over at the Oli Fowler store.